That is the claim of Toto Wolff, who is not only the team boss at world champions Mercedes, but also part of the Finnish driver's management team.

In the past days and weeks, the Williams driver has been linked with a potential switch to Ferrari.

Asked if the rumours are affecting the 25-year-old, Wolff said: "The answer is very simple. Valtteri has a great future ahead of him.

"If you really look at who are the next generation of the most competitive drivers, you see Valtteri, Daniel Ricciardo and perhaps Daniil Kvyat," the Austrian told the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat.

"Those guys are the first ones, and then even younger is Max Verstappen.

"It is clear that all the big teams start to look to the future, and I know that Valtteri is on the watch list as a potential candidate for all of them.

"That is the same as what the Ferrari manager Maurizio Arrivabene said," Wolff insisted. "Nothing more, nothing less.

"At the moment, Valtteri is at Williams and doing very well there. Anything else is pure speculation."

Wolff said that, at the moment, Bottas cannot think about switching to Mercedes.

"Right now we have two really good drivers in our cars already, so no one else has the opportunity to come here. But who knows what the future will bring," he said.

"But I point out again that this is just speculation, because Valtteri is with Williams. And if I was a racing driver and I couldn't drive a Mercedes or a Ferrari, I would want to drive a Williams," Wolff added.